Mark Zuckerberg. Marc Andreessen. David Sze. Jim Breye. Peter Thiel. Notice anything about these names? They’re all men! The advocates at womens’ group UltraViolet are not pleased with Facebook’s board of directors — and they’re protesting this afternoon.
The group describes itself as “a community of women and men, fighting to expand women’s rights and combat sexism everywhere — from politics and government to media and pop culture.” Facebook must fall into that group, because today UltraViolet is protesting and dropping off a reported 53,000-name petition for more women on the board, straight up in Facebook’s Manhattan office. And more would mean anything less than zero, at this point. Why? Because a company that makes money from women should have some women in charge, says UltraViolet:
Facebook is driven largely by women who make up 58% of its users and are responsible for 62% of the sharing that happens through Facebook networks.
This spring, Facebook will go public — when it does it will be one of the largest companies in the world. And despite the fact that women are responsible for most of Facebook’s revenue and activity there currently is not a single woman on their board.
This is wrong and we’re joining a big campaign to get Facebook to fix it. Can you sign this petition?
They’ve got a good point. But as AllFacebook rightly points out, the board may be dude-ridden, but the second most powerful person at Faceook — and arguably one of the most powerful in Silicon Valley — is Sheryl Sandberg. Sheryl Sandberg does not have a penis.
We’ll monitor the protest once it happens. [UltraViolet via AllFacebook]
Wig by Karina Bakalyan/Shutterstock